The Writing On The Wall
by Pickles Nickels
Summary: A series of rapes and homicides baffle the detectives of Manhattan SVU. With no real motives, or profile of the killer, the only clue that can lead them to the truth is the writing on the wall...EO
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- Not. Mine.

A/N- Not related to what happened in Strain, I came up with the idea while walking to the bus...And just so you know, Elliot and Olivia have been going out for some time in this.

* * *

This wasn't how she was supposed to die. 

She was supposed to die in her sleep, at an old age, with grandchildren, maybe even great grandchildren. Not now. Not before her life had truly begun.

But there she was, in a dark, cold alley, the ground wet with what she assumed was her blood. Violated, and scared of what she was about to face. It was nearing the end, she could tell. The pain was fading. So was everything she had worked so hard for. Everything from her acceptance at Princeton University to her new boyfriend, who she was really falling for.

It was all fading now. The darkness was almost suffocating. She tried to remember a happy time, rather than die with the memory of that...that _thing _that had been inside of her a short time ago. She smiled, remembering her fifth birthday party. Friends, family...A new bike. Her mother bringing out the cake.

Just as she was about to blow out the candles, her eyes slid shut, and her last breath escaped her.

She was gone.

* * *

"Benson." Her voice was groggy. She looked at the clock. 2 in the morning. Whoever was calling better have a damned good reason. 

"There's a homicide on 43rd street and Times Square." Her captain's voice came through loud and clear.

"I'll be there."

"And where's Elliot? He's not answering his phone." She looked at the sleeping lump next to her.

"Right next to me." She yawned.

"Wake him up."

"Okay."

"See you in a few." She shook Elliot's shoulder.

"Sleep." He muttered, rolling away.

"El, we've gotta go. We've got a case." He grunted and rolled a little farther. "Come on, if I have to get up, you have to get up." She shook him again. This time, he rolled off the bed and hit the floor. He opened his eyes."Come on, I'll buy you coffee."

"Okay."

Thity minutes, and a lot of pushing from Olivia later, they were at the crime scene.

"Jesus Christ." She said under her breath. "She doesn't even look like she's out of high school yet."

"She's not. Her name's Hannah Jacobs, she's a senior at Stuyvesant High School." A uniformed officer had come up to her. "Found her ID." He handed her the little plastic card with the girl's picture on it.

"Looks like she was out at a party of some sort." Elliot said. "Maybe a nightclub. Parents been notified yet?"

"Not yet." Olivia continued to look around for clues as to who her attacker was. "Uh, we also found her cell phone, and wallet...so it wasn't a robbery."

"Elliot, look at this." She shined her flashlight on the wall above the girl's head.

"Rapist?" The word was written in blue marker. "Why does this remind me of something?"

"Unless she runs around brandishing a dildo, I don't think whoever did this meant her." She looked back down at the girl. "Looks more like she was raped." She gestured at the girl's messed up and torn clothing.

"Yeah." He stopped a passing CSU photographer. "Hey can we get a picture of this?" The photographer nodded and snapped a few pictures of the graffiti. "Thanks." He turned to Olivia who was now going throught the girl's purse. "Maybe we can get a handwriting expert or something to look at it..." She nodded, pulling out a white sheet of paper.

"Well, now we know where she was."

"Lemme see." He took it from her. "You're invited to Marissa's 18th birthday party. February 2nd, 2006 at Marissa's house. 400 West 63rd street."

"So either Hannah decided to walk home, or whoever did this brought her here."

"There's only one way to find out."

* * *

"Ther party's over detectives. If this is about the noise..." 

"It's about one of the guests." Mrs.Kessler sat down in a chair across from Elliot and Olivia. "Hannah Jacobs."

"She had to leave early. Actually, quite a few of the guests had to leave early."

"Any particular reason why?" Olivia asked.

"Someone brought alcohol to the party. Jessie saw and told me. She's my youngest."

"Was Hannah drinking?"

"Yes. I don't mean to be rude, but shouldn't you be asking her parents about this?" This was definitely the hardest part.

"Hannah Jacobs was found near Times Square. She was stabbed to death." Mrs.Kessler clapped a hand to her mouth.

"Oh my God...I should have made sure..."

"Made sure of what?" Elliot asked.

"She said she was taking a cab home...I never made sure, though...Oh God..."

"Mom what's going on?" A groggy voice interrupted them. A teenage girl was at one end of the living room.

"Sweetheart, come here." The girl walked slowly to the couch. "This is Marissa. Marissa, this is Detective Benson and Detective Stabler."

"What's going on?" She asked again, confused.

"Sweetheart...Hannah is...she's..." She paused to try and keep her cool. "She's gone, sweetie."

"You mean she's dead?" Her mother nodded. Marissa clapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God...How?"

"She was stabbed." Olivia said gently. Marissa began to sob uncontrollably into her mother's shoulder. Olivia waited until her tears subsided before speaking again."Do you know anyone who would want to hurt her?"

"She did have a nasty breakup a couple of months ago. But I don't think her ex would do something like that."

"What's his name?" Elliot asked.

"Jake Cameron."

"Anyone else who might want to hurt her?" Marissa shook her head. "Does she have a boyfriend now?"

"Yeah."

"What's his name?"

"Mike Kessler. He's my cousin. He definitely wouldn't do something like that, he's crazy about Hannah."_ Maybe a little too crazy..._ Olivia thought.

"Could we have their addresses?" Elliot asked. Mrs. Kessler nodded and got up. She came back with two stapled sheets of paper.

"These are the addresses of everyone who was here. I don't know, maybe someone else saw something..." Olivia took the paper from her.

"Thank you so much." They got up to leave. "If you hear anything, just give us a call." Olivia wrote down her number, and gave it to Mrs.Kessler. On their way out, Elliot's cell phone began to ring.

"Stabler."

"Elliot, you know that graffiti you found?" Munch's voice greeted him.

"Yeah."

"You're not gonna believe this..."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- Not. Mine.

A/N- Terribly sorry about the wait...I've been having some pretty weird internet issues which somehow turned into my computer not wanting to work...anyhoo, I'm back. Oh and, forgive me if my Spanish is off...I take Italian, so I'm just using what google translating told me was right...

* * *

"So now it's a serial." Elliot said as they got into the elevator.

"Well that's just fantastic." Olivia responded sarcastically. "We got an ID of the second vic?"

"Not yet. The guy who found her says he's seen her around, but doesn't know her by name." Olivia yawned as he was speaking. "On the way to Hannah's house we're stopping for coffee.You never got me that cup you promised."

"Gladly." She replied, as they got out of the elevator and headed for the car. "I think I saw a place across the street."

"If not, theres always Starbucks. I'm sure I saw at least five on the way up here.Where exactly is her house?"

"Hannah's?" Oliva questioned. "I'll find out when we get to the car. I don't think I'm coordinated enough to walk and read at the same time while running on about two hours of sleep."

"Hey it's not my fault we only got two hours.You started it, remember?"

"It takes two to tango, honey." She grinned at him as she got into the passanger side of the car, closing the door behind her as Elliot started up the car. "Besides, I'm not complaining." She picked up the listthat Marissa's mother had given them. "She lives in the Bronx. Maybe you should call Munch back and tell him that it'll be a while before we're back."

"Why?" Elliot asked.

"Have you never seen the traffic on the FDR?" Olivia questioned, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"At this hour? I'd give it at least two more hours until it gets to be that bad."

"You sure?"

"Almost one hundred percent."

"You better be right about this." She said, as he started to drive off.

* * *

Looking at the second victim for what must have been the five hundreth time, Munch was glad that she had died instantly. A single bullet wound to the head ended any memory she would have to relive hundreds of times.

Unless, of course, those memories transferred into the afterlife along with the soul. Then she would be stuck reliving it for all eternity. Then again, he wasn't so sure he believed in an afterlife. He forced his gaze on the East River, before he got too wrapped up in his thoughts.

"Munch." He turned towards the sound of Fin's voice.

"Yeah?"

"Guy says he's pretty sure he knows the building where she lives. 79th and York."

"Let's go get an ID." The two of them walked over the overpass to the sidewalk on the other side. "We can walk from here, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good." They walked on in silence for the two blocks it took to get to the building in question. "Nice building."

"Her apartment probably costs more than all of the apartments in mine put together." They opened the front doors to see a sleeping doorman at the front desk.

"Security system sucks, though." Munch commented. "Excuse me." He said, tapping his knuckles on the counter. The doorman snapped awake.

"Can I help you?"

"Detectives Tutuola and Munch, Special Victims." Fin said, as they flashed their badges. "We're looking for this woman, do you know who she is?" They showed him one of the pictures CSU had taken of her face.

"That looks like Gabrielle Goldman, apartment 9G. She was dressed like she was going out running." The doorman scratched at his chin and thought. "She seemed a little angry about something."

"Did she go out at all in the middle of the night?" Munch asked.

"Let's see...I think she went out about an hour ago. She's not caught up in anything bad, now is she?" The doorman asked.

Munch and Fin exchanged a quickglance with one another. "We found Gabrielle by the FDR. She was murdered." Munch answered.

"Oh my God...She was such a nice lady..."

"She was wearing a wedding band when we found her. Is her husband home?" Fin asked.

"Yeah. He was home all night as far as I know." The doorman shook his head, "But I don't think he would have done something like this..."

"Neither do we. Maybe he knows someone who would have done this to her." Fin said.

"Go right on up, apartment 9G."

"Thank you." Seeing as they had finished their business with the doorman, they turned around from the desk and started on toward the elevator.

"Oh, detectives?" The doorman called out, causing them to stop in their tracks and turn their attention toward him. "Find the bastard who did this to her."

"We will." Munch answered. The doorman gave them a good luck sign as Fin and Munch both stepped onto the elevator and it took them up to the ninth floor.

* * *

Several hours later, they were back in the squadroom, going over the information that Hannah and Gabrielle's families had given them. So far, they had had no luck in finding a connection between the two, not even a friend, or distant relative.

"Done. Finally." Olivia said, hanging up the phone, finally done with calling everyone on Marissa's guest list."If I have to talk to one more wannabe valley girl teenager, I think I just might scream." She folded her arms."Were any of your girls ever like that?"

"Nope." he answered.Olivia reached over, and grabbed his sandwich. "Heyy..." He said, watching her take a bite of it. "You have your own."

"Had. And finished." She put it back. "Give me a break, I didn't eat breakfast."

"Neither did I."

"You got a cookie at the coffee place."

"That's not breakfast."

"So? It's still food."

"I'm not getting any connection. Nothing physical, except maybe skin color." Munch called from his desk.

"I dont think anything personality wise." Fin said. "Can't be too sure."

"We should call Huang." Elliot said.

"Already did." They all turned towards the sound of Cragen's voice. "And I need two of you to go to 116th street and second avenue."

"Why?" Elliot asked.

"There's a third victim."

* * *

"Mrs.Vazquez, we need to know if your daughter knew either of these girls." Olivia pulled out the pictures of Hannah and Gabrielle.

"I don't think so. Alicia usually stayed home, studying. She really wanted to get into law school." She glanced at the CSU's going through the room.

"Do you know anyone who would want to hurt her?" Elliot asked as Mrs.Vazquez shook her head. "She never mentioned anything to you?"

"Now that I think about it, she told me she saw a group of men in a van. She thought that they were following her."

"Did she report this?" Olivia asked, folding her arms.

The womanshook her headin response."I thought that it was just a bunch of gang members hanging around. You know this neighborhood...always some kids with no direction after some nice young innocent girl. I just told her to avoid them. I should...I should have done something..." She buried her face in her hands and began to cry. Olivia moved to sit on the couch next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders while her body shook with sobs.

"It's not your fault. You had no way of knowing that something like this would happen." There was a pause before Elliot spoke.

"Did she say how many men there were?"

"About six, seven...eight at the most." Elliot went over what they had seen in the neighborhood before coming into the building. He couldn't remember having seen a van.

"When's the last time she said she saw them?"

"Yesterday afternoon. She said that one of them grabbed his crotch when she passed and said something."

"Do you remember what it was?"

"Something like...te quiero, puta...it means." She took a deep breath. "Do you want this, bitch? Ai dios, I really should have said something..." Olivia rubbed her back, as she began to sob again.

"Detectives." They looked up. M.E. Warner stood at the door to the living room. Elliot stood and went over to her, leaving Olivia to console Mrs.Vazquez. "We got lucky this time. Got some fluids." She said, once they were in Alicia's bedroom. The girl was on her bed, covered in blood from the various cuts she had all over her body. The graffiti was written on the wall over her headboard in thick black marker. "And I'm calling in a handwriting expert for the graffiti."

"Anything else?"

"She had a clump of hair in her hand, so it looks like she put up one hell of a fight. However, there's nothing under the fingernails, except for what looks like part of a cotton swab. I'm guessing our perp cleaned them with alcohol or something similar."

"I hate the smart ones." He turned away from the body just as Olivia came in the room.

"What's up?"

"We got some fluids, coupla hairs."

"Any skin?" He shook his head.

"Perp cleaned out her fingernails." Olivia sighed, looking at the floor. Her eyes stopped, seeing a cottonball on the ground.

"With that?" She pointed at it.

"We got lucky twice." Olivia bent to pick it up, after having slipped on a pair of gloves. She brought it over to Warner.

"Found what the perp used to clean out her fingernails." She looked up from the blood spatters on the wall.

"I'll see if we can get something off of it. If he used alcohol, we're out of luck." Warner took it from her."I'm surprised CSU missed it."

"Me too."

"Where'd you find it?"

"Over there, near her dresser. He was probably aiming for the trash can. Guess basketball isn't one of his strong points." Warner gave her a small smile.

"I'll call you when we get something."

"Thanks." She walked back over to Elliot. "Let's get back to the precinct. Maybe Munch and Fin found something we missed."

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- Not. Mine.

A/N- Sorry for the long wait, school starting has been quite stressful and full of work...thankfully, however, I've got my old free period back, so I can write a lot more then. So, without further ado, I give you chapter 3.

* * *

"So what do we have so far?" Huang asked, looking at a crime scene picture. The four detectives, plus George Huang, sat around a table upstairs in the precinct, going over what evidence they had gathered so far. 

"First we have the high school senior party girl, Hannah Jacobs. She was at a friend's 18th brithday party, and apparently decided to walk home. I asked Warner for her tox screen results. Her BAC was .003. Not enough to impair her judgement fully, so we know it wasn't a date gone wrong." Olivia said, letting Huang look at the pictures more in depth.

"Next we have the rich workaholic Gabrielle Goldman, found on a jogging path next to the FDR on the Upper East Side." Munch said, once Huang had put down Hannah's picture. He handed him Gabrielle's photos. "She has a husband, but no connection to Hannah, so I doubt he had anything to do with it." There was another pause, as Huang studied that set of pictures. As soon as he set them down, Elliot handed him the third.

"Third victim, Alicia Vazquez. Junior at John Jay College. Found in her bedroom. According to her mother, some guys had been following her beforehand." Elliot said. Olivia yawned as they waited for Huang to finish. She met Elliot's gaze at her and winked at him, recieving a small smile in response.

"He's trying to confuse you, and yet let you know that it's him." Huang stated after a while. "Now before, you ask what I mean, let me explain. He has three different MO's, so that he won't leave enough evidence to point directly to him. But he leaves his tag so that you know it's his work, rather than some other person's. He's also trying to pick different varities of victims to throw you off his trail."

"So he just sees a woman and goes "Hey, I think I'll rape and murder you today."" Elliot said sarcastically.

"Exactly."

"Sick bastard." Elliot muttered.

"And getting sicker by the minute." They all turned towards Cragen, who had come upstairs without any of them noticing.

"Don't tell me. Another one?" Olivia asked, starting to get up. Cragen motioned for her to sit down.

"Munch and Fin have this one, since you two got the last one. I warn you, this is pretty damn disgusting."

"Why?" Fin asked.

"Ever wonder what human organs look like outside of a body?"

* * *

"That's nasty." Fin commented, looking at the dismembered body of a young woman, placed on a table in a high school biology lab. They had seen some pretty sick stuff in their time, but never this. Her body was cut in half, and from what they could see spread out on the table next to her, were her internal organs. 

"Somebody tried to arrange the organs as if they knew the human anatomy well. Unfotunately for them, last time I checked, your liver was next to your stomach, not resting on top of the small intestines." A woman with short red hair, wearing a navy OCME jacket spoke to them.

"Who are you?" Fin asked.

"I'm Dr. Elizabeth Rogers. Your usual ME is kind of busy, so I'm helping you out on this one. My guess is your guy watches too much television, and put his own spin on the Black Dahlia murder. Like I said before, he has limited medical knowledge, so the details he tried to mimick came out wrong." She carefully stepped over a pool of blood to get closer to the body. "The cut is supposed to sever the spine perfectly between the second and third lumbar. He was off by a few centimeters, and wound up hacking through the bone. She gestured towards the face "He also managed to cut the mouth open, like in the original murder."

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Munch stated, and left the room to join a group of people who already felt the same way.

"Was she alive when he sliced her?" Fin asked, once Munch was fully out of the room.

"Thankfully, no." She pulled aside the woman's hair to reveal a single gunshot wound. The rest was done postmortem. It was the screams that must have stopped him from doing it while she was alive. I did find some fluids, so we can compare those to the ones Melinda found before." He looked up at the "rapist" written on the dry-erase board in her blood. Cragen was right, this was getting sicker by the minute.

"Who found the body?" He said after a while.

"One of the secretaries. She came in to give her a memo, and found this instead. Her name's Dana Walker, by the way."

"Damn." He said softly. If this wasw his fourth vicitm, what did this creep have in store for them next? And how close together were the murders going to be? It had only been two days, and already he knew that based on what this guy was doing, almost nobody was safe. Especially since he kept changing his MO. He hand't realized how long he had been standing there, lost in his thoughts, until Elizabeth pulled the sheet over the Dana's head. It was then that he decided to check up on his partner. He found Munch outside of the room, leaning against a row of lockers and looking slightly green.

"I never want to see something like that again." Munch stated. Fin was silent, as they made their way out of the building and back to the car. Neither felt up to making the usual comments they would make about cases. They were three blocks from the precinct before Munch spoke again. "You think we'll get the bastard in time?" The look he gave Munch clearly showed what he was thinking. "Me either."

* * *

Back at the precinct, Olivia sat at her desk, staring at the crime scene photos. As with every case, she couldn't help but feel guilty for what happened to the victims. She knew it wasn't her fault, but sometimes...she sighed, putting them down. She rubbed her temples, trying to rid herself of the headache she had as a result of lack of sleep.

"You okay?" She looked up at Elliot, and nodded.

"Just tired." She said, with a yawn. "Only two more hours until I can go pass out at home." She gave him a tired smile.

"Excuse me, where can I find Detective Benson?" Olivia swiveled her chair around towards the sound of the voice inquiring about her.

"She's right over there." One of the uniforms pointed at her. A woman in her mid twenties came over to her.

"Are you Olivia Benson?"

"Yes I am, how can I help you?" The woman took a shaky breath.

"You're working on that serial rape case, the one with the graffiti?" Olivia nodded. "I have something that you might want."

"What might that be?" Elliot asked, leaning forward.

"I think I know who's doing it."

* * *

A/N- You know the drill.  



End file.
